Beginning Guide To Aquarium kH - Part 1: What Is kH And Why Is It Important?

When I first got into the hobby I didn't know what kH was or why it was so important. It took me awhile to get my arms around the concept of kH and why it is important in our tanks. This video is not a scientific explanation of kH, rather it is my attempt at sharing how I visualize it using a simple analogy. If you are still unsure just what aquarium kH is or why it is important, I hope this video simplifies things a little.
Keep tankin!
Mike

[@Aquatasy]

So glad you did this video. This information needs to get out there. Super important. Well done!

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Drew - thanks for the kind words! I've been wanting to try to get something out for awhile as I just don't see a whole lot on it out there. Merry Christmas and a very blessed holiday season to you and your family!

[@rick49]

This video deserves a lot more views and appreciation. Great info, presented using a fantastic approach. Thank you!

[@Mustaches4017]

I second that! Truly amazing video for beginners. I appreciate it.

[@damor4878]

Finally! A plain english explanation of kh and ph. I now have a good understanding.before i got myself educated all i knew was i had to buffer alkilines in order to maintain ph but not excactly why.thanks for this,much appreciated.

[@sharkgrappler]

Thank you - interesting and hepful.

[@rjmendoza2546]

Fantastic video! Thank you! Of all the videos, your presentation is amazing! Informative and straight to the point!

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Rhea - Thanks so much for the very kind words! 😊 Thank you for watching and I'm glad it was helpful!

[@Les-OZZYTHEOSCAR]

This is really good. So easy to understand

[@user-ii1ei9gw8t]

'wow amazing so simple and understandable!!!! thank you

[@jonattanpichardo8655]

Amazing break down thank you!!!

[@anthonypierre2094]

This was awesome, no lie. I've watched a lot of video that still left me with questions. Now I need to know how you can control these factors (other than water changes)

[@Jimmy-gk1on]

Very good explanation on KH. Looking forward to seeing other aquarium chemistry video clips . Good effort ! Well done.

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Thank you much for the kind words, Jimmy! Thanks for checkin out the video! Part 2 coming soon.....😀

[@tanyaroberson9394]

Thanks so much for this video, it helps me and my fishes so much.

[@gigihanmandarin]

Great video. Part 2 please!!!

[@NightowlStudio]

Really quite impressive production values on this

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Thank you for the kind words! I appreciate you checking out the video!

[@brettmsmith]

Very well explained, thank you.

[@dmichaelsfishden]

My pleasure, Brett! Thanks for checking out the video!

[@mrek2068]

Absolutely brilliant video.

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Errol Khan thanks for the kind words! Glad it was helpful!

[@Kay13Jay]

Thank you very much!

[@delphinelumen]

Thank you so much for this video!

[@dmichaelsfishden]

My pleasure, Delphine! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@RooRichy]

Subbed, top notch explanation!

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Thanks for the kind words Rich! Glad it was helpful!

[@rick49]

And what a great voice for narration.

[@thinkleads]

Thank you! I was waiting for this type of series! GH next? :)

[@dmichaelsfishden]

My pleasure Aced Wing! Glad it was helpful! I hadn't seen that many videos out there on kH, so I thought I'd share my take on it. Yes! GH coming soon! I'm going to do a part 2 on kH, then GH is following 👍Stay tuned! Really appreciate you checking out the video

[@mikes6490]

Pure genius

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Thanks for the kind words and for watching Mike!

[@rods1597]

Nice. Great earth-ozone-sun analogy. Looking forward to part 2.

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Thanks much, Rod! Glad that came across ok 👍 Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you and your family!

[@rods1597]

@@dmichaelsfishden Yes forgot to mention Mele Kalikimaka and Hau'oli Makahiki Hou.

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Rod S one of these days I’ll have to experience Christmas out in paradise!

[@Chudz_1]

Class analogy

[@karenmeyers553]

Great video thanks 👍

[@dmichaelsfishden]

My pleasure, Karen! Thanks for the kind words and glad it was helpful!

[@AussieAquatic]

Really enjoyed this lesson Mike, and KH is absolutely the protective stabilising element within our aquariums, and you've done really well explaining why. I also love the visual element of the see saw swings. We have multiple see saw swings in operation simultaneously within an aquarium. I would love to collab with you on how all these can move in harmony or lurch out of sync. Very Merry Christmas wishes to you and your good family and wishing you all a safe and prosperous New year in 2019 :)

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Colin - thank you for the kind words! Glad the analogy came across ok - it's the only way I was finally able to "get it." And you are right! A lot of see saw swings going on all the time. Of course it would be an honor to collab with you on anything and I'll look forward to it! Merry Christmas to you and I hope you and your family have a safe, blessed holiday season. I'm grateful for your friendship and continued support. Here is to 2019 🎉🎊

[@AussieAquatic]

BTW your plants are looking great :)

[@dmichaelsfishden]

colinbarsby thanks, Colin! Thankful they are doing well. I think I’ve got the dosing system finally dialed in 👍. I love growing them nice and big!

[@AussieAquatic]

@@dmichaelsfishden Plants growing, fish breeding, clear water. Heaven :)

[@coralocean1442]

Excellent video. I had no idea KH was acidic. I have to put my betta breeding project on hold as my landlord installed a water softener. I now have to turn on the bypass and run the cold water for 10 minutes before putting it in a storage container. It's a major pain. I need to give it a couple of months to see if salt is seeping in and hurting my fish :(. Hug Patriot for me lol!

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Coralocean - as always, thank you for the kind words! Yes, remember it's actually the Nitrates that are acidic, and the kH is the "ozone layer" that prevents the acidic nitrates from getting to your pH and causing your pH to drop 👍 Oh no! Sorry to hear about the water softener and that you had to put the betta project on hold - I've been checking in on your channel and hadn't seen the vids yet so I though something might be delaying it. Def worth being patient a little longer to make sure no salt is seeping through. In due time, right? You'll get there! 😀 Patriot gives you a big slime coated hug back! 😀He likes to shower people with his "Aura"

[@kathleenwhite9741]

Merry Christmas to you and your family! Hope you have a wonderful holiday season! 🎄🎄🎄🎁🎁🎁🎉🎉🎉🎅🦌🦌🦌🦌

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Kathleen White Merry Christmas and a blessed holiday season, Kathleen! 🎄🎁😀

[@concon9636]

Thank you!!

[@dmichaelsfishden]

My pleasure Con Con! Happy holidays!

[@treasuringpricelesstime5962]

My KH is a little below 40 in my new tank without fish. How can I safely raise it? Thanks

[@Roman-fo7to]

Im having a problem with ph and kh. My tap water comes out with a ph of 7.2 and a kh of 6. My 29 gallon tank with eco complete substrate has been set up for about a month and a half. It used to have an 8 ph because eco complete gives a bump to ph and kh at first. Now my 29 gallon has a ph of 7.2-7.6 with a kh of 2. Do you know why my kh is so low? I have no peat moss or driftwood and I do weekly 25%-50% water changes. I'm so confused why my kh is so low. I always use tap water for water changes to

[@ricodegallo3060]

👍

[@RevofOne]

Why does my KH drop so rapidly? I buffer with Seachem Alkaline but it can drop from like 7° to 3° in like a day or two?

[@anthonyragan2696]

Good video. I never knew nitrates were an acid.

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Anthony Ragan thanks for watching! I didn’t either....for a long time until I ran into old tank syndrome in my old 20 tall. Merry Christmas 🎁 🎄 Have a blessed holiday season, Anthony!

[@juliebrown1510]

Nope still confused. I have a 29 gallon Aquarium with Mollies, Platies, and Guppy fish. I just did a test my KH 6 drops 107.4 and GH 10 drops 179. How do I fix it so they are better numbers for my fish please help?

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Julie - sorry for the late reply. I know kH can be a little frustrating - I have two more videos in the series that might be helpful to you: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y4Wpq2qgd8itnLs This second part in the series talks about what kH is appropriate for the type of fish. kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5W5nqGdZqeXnas This third part talks about how to raise or lower kH. You may be most interested in part 3...there are a variety of ways to raise or lower it, depending on the type of fish you have. Hope this helps more! Please let me know if I can help further...

[@BharatMataKiJaiii]

Hi! Thank you for the great explanation. In planted tanks with Co2 injection, the ph drops almost 1 full point (maybe a bit less depending on the level of injection) . Would that be toxic to fish as well?

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Dave - so sorry for the late reply. It depends on how long that drop happens....if that is instant - that isn't good for the fish at all. If it happens over time, it also depends on how tolerant those fish are with parameters. Can you tell me more? What fish are you keeping?

[@BharatMataKiJaiii]

dmichaels fish den Hi, Thanks a lot for the reply 🤗 I have White Clouds, Panda Corys and Ottos

[@hueykwan7849]

Great video, easy to understand. Could you please tell me how to increase kh in the freshwater? I have zero kh in my tank and I wonder if this a reason my shrimps aren't doing well.

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Huey - glad the video was helpful! You asked a really good question here...regarding your shrimp, it is actually your GH that relates to their health directly. GH is general hardness and the measure of magnesium and calcium in your water. This is what the shrimp really need for good shell growth. GH can be increased through water changes, or a re-mineralizer like Seachem Equilibrium. You can also use wonder shells or crushed coral in the tank to help. I would try Seachem Equilibrium. That being said - it is ALSO important to increase your kH - a few ways to do that (this is coming up in my follow up video to this one). You can use Seachem Alkaline Buffer or also....add crushed coral to the tank. You can knock two birds out with one stone by adding crushed coral to the tank (you can find it on Amazon). With crushed coral, the acidic nitrates will react with the crushed coral, causing it to release calcium and carbonate in the water, which will raise both your kH and gH. I might try that first and see how that does - do you have a measuring kit for gH and kH - you can monitor it with the coral, and if that isn't doing quite enough, you may want to look at the Seachem stuff - Hope that helps!

[@hueykwan7849]

@@dmichaelsfishden Thank you so much, your advice is simple yet deep, very helpful to newbies like me. I'll try the crushed coral, easier to get in Malaysia.🙏

[@dmichaelsfishden]

My pleasure, Huey!

[@Leysner77]

I use co2 in my tank.. so its not posible to have stable ph.. when the co2 is off my ph goes up

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Jermain - sorry for the late reply here. How big are the pH swings? You should be fine if it is only swinging 1 point or so (it does this in nature as well as CO2 levels build up at night due to natural organic decomposition), and as long as the point or 2 is within the fish's natural parameters they should adapt if it is consistent over time. Have you monitored kH with the CO2? If pH is changed without a change in kH (like with CO2 injection) the pH swings shouldn't affect the livestock - your kH will help buffer that - definitely tough to have a perfectly stable pH with CO2 - but that also is the same as a natural environment so if your kH is holding strong during, you should be just fine. Hope that helps a little!

[@chefpinot45]

So what's a good KH range?

[@dmichaelsfishden]

James - glad you asked! This is in my follow up video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y4Wpq2qgd8itnLs Hope that is helpful!

[@jenmaguire636]

Do you have a companion video on how to increase KH?

[@jenmaguire636]

Nevermind, I found it!

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Glad you found it! Thanks for watching! Hope the companion video is helpful!

[@niko69692]

hey man my carbonates is 0 ppm and bicarbonates is 150 ppm and total kh is 150 ppm / dKh is 8.386 .. is this ok ?? I mean my carbonates being zero ??

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Nlko - sorry for the late reply here - With a total dkh of 8.386 you are right there at the top of the mark and fine for planted or tropical tanks (you'd only need to go higher if brackish or african cichlid). But it is interesting that the carbonates are at 0 and the bicarbonates are 150....You kind of have me on this one - I haven't seen that yet, at least in my experience in the hobby - what a great question. I'm going to have to research a bit and get back to you - let me know if you find anything out on your end. Sorry I don't have a direct answer, but I'll sure try to find one!

[@niko69692]

@@dmichaelsfishden my tap Water is very hard tds is 500-600 ppm. So I mix ro water and tap water to bring my tds to 250-200 ppm and I use diy yeast co2 for my plants in tank. Would that be the reason??

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Nlko -wow, you've got some hard water there! Good move mixing the ro with the tap 👍 and, absolutely - the diy co2 certainly could be the reason - are you able to measure the ppm of the co2? If you are pumping too much co2 into the tank it can absolutely drop the kh - do you have a way to control the co2 going in?

[@niko69692]

@@dmichaelsfishden no I just let it run.. Until it runs out. That's how diy yeast based co2 works.. And I have no fish in the tank.. I have only plants bucephalandra, anubias. Hygrophila pinatafida. Will kh shift affect plants ??

[@dmichaelsfishden]

@UC72733lbuqQbyAWsAJ4YMeA ah...that's right - I haven't ever tried diy yeast co2, but I've read a lot about it...forgot it simply runs out. Knowing your situation more, though, with no fish and only plants (the buce and anubias being fairly hardy), I'm not sure the kH shift will affect your plants much, certainly not the buce or anubias. I've never kept pinatafida - really want to though...awesome plant - and I'm not sure whether the pinatafida is considered a hard or soft water plant. I've kept hygrophila sunset for years and no issues there...pretty darn hardy. I've read plants will use some kH in photosynthesis, but in your case, I'm really not sure your levels will affect the plants. There are always the "recommended levels" etc...but knowing your setup, I wouldn't think the carbonates being zero is a problem as long as the plants are doing well - if everything is humming along, stay the course. I thought you might have had fish in the tank and in that case the kH and cO2 levels become more of an issue. In that case, you definitely need to watch the kH so you have that buffer and so your pH doesn't swing and affect your fish. But at the end of the day, i wouldn't worry too much about the kH unless you are planning on adding some really sensitive plants or fish in the future. I'm going to try to see what other research I can find of the kH affect with plants - I haven't heard much about it in 9 years in the hobby, now you have me intrigued. Really good stuff in your comments!

[@dinesendk]

Can't KH be too high? And if yes, then what? More water changes?

[@culerone]

So basically the higher the kh is the better it is for the ph ?

[@dmichaelsfishden]

Dark Side - as a general rule, yes....the higher it is, the more it can neutralize acids before it affects your PH. Or in other words, the higher your "buffering capacity."

[@MLP4242]

"Karbonathärte" = KH :)

[@franciscoo.8656]

So if i understood correctrly; then i can say. “My KH is 4 strong. YES!!!! ..... Right???? How can i make it 6 strong?

[@sirpuffington4923]

Done hours of research and this my friend is the kitties titties. A lot more help and now I can actually see where my ph rise has came from. Now my question is if my gh is high, and I try to lower the gh will the kh be affected?

[@TherealShabbadang]

You say nitrate is acidic but NO3 is - and should attract a proton/hydrogen ion and therefore act as a base, forming HNO3, which is a powerful acid, nitric acid, but before it becomes an acid it should collect hydrogen ions, thus making nitrate a base.

[@envee.e]

No one will give me an answer on what to do if you have extremely high KH (20.0) and how to lower it if its a problem

[@kevintmckay]

So if a fish requires a higher KH, that really just means the fish is more sensitive to ph changes.

[@Desperado070]

anything above 7 is basic, alkaline is a whole different thing...

[@JesusHerrera-vx2pn]

Is not Alkaline. Is basic.

[@george5120]

Get rid of the damn music. I can barely understand a word you say because it is a distraction. We don't the splash screens and sound effects either.